Liberian president hails peace

Sunday

Jun 3, 2012 at 6:00 AMJun 3, 2012 at 7:41 AM

By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia since being elected to her first term in 2005, pointed out in remarks to members of the Central Massachusetts Liberian community yesterday that “We are now in our ninth year of peace, and that is the number one thing we have to maintain.”

That fact is indeed something of which to be very proud. It has been estimated that between 1989 and 2003, 250,000 Liberians died in a civil war featuring such figures as Charles Taylor, a former president convicted of war crimes by an international court last week and sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Ms. Johnson Sirleaf’s comment drew much appreciative applause from about 200 people on hand for a community event hosted by the University of Massachusetts Medical School and organized in conjunction with area Liberian groups.

However, Ms. Johnson Sirleaf, who is also a Nobel Peace Prize winner, had another point she wanted to stress, and it was also greeted with enthusiasm, including cheers. “My message to you today is be proud to be a Liberian,” she said.

There was little doubt that the people on hand at the gathering yesterday were full of pride about Ms. Johnson Sirleaf’s visit to Worcester. More than 2,000 Liberians call Central Massachusetts home, one of the largest concentrations in the United States. Many came here to flee oppression, and there are now second- and third-generation Liberian-American families living here. Worcester Mayor Joseph M. Petty, one of the guest speakers at yesterday’s event, called them a “vibrant” community.

Ms. Johnson Sirleaf, 73, will give the commencement address today at the University of Massachusetts Medical School’s graduation. But those at yesterday’s event got the first chance to see and hear her. When she entered the Blais Pavilion in the Lazare Research Building, she was greeted with a bouquet of flowers. The audience then heartily sang both the Liberian and United States national anthems. Joshua Bing Jr., president of the Liberian Association of Worcester County, called Ms. Johnson Sirleaf’s visit “a blessing for us here in Worcester and Massachusetts as a whole.”

“We are very proud of you,” said Yvonne Hoggard-Kamara, president of the Federation of Liberian Community Associations of Massachusetts.

After ex-president Taylor’s ouster in 2003, Ms. Johnson Sirleaf served as head of Liberia’s Governance Reform Commission. When she was elected in 2005, she became the first democratically female elected president in the history of Liberia and the continent of Africa. She was re-elected in 2011 (Liberian presidents serve six-year terms), the same year she shared winning the Nobel Peace Prize for non-violence advocacy.

She did not address Mr. Taylor’s conviction yesterday, and five questions chosen from the audience did not bring up the matter.

“We’re trying our best to have a government of inclusion,” she said. Progress is being made on many levels in terms of stabilization, she indicated, but also acknowledged, “Now comes the hard part ... The years of transformation.”

Ms. Johnson Sirleaf said Liberians “not only have to work on the tangibles but the intangibles — changing minds and attitudes.”

She had a challenge for her Worcester audience: “Join us.”

She said she understood that “You may not be able to do it for some time.”